Research
Annotated Bibliography Kiera Ewings Mr. Tovar English 23 August 2012 Annotated Bibliography Chappell, Allison T., John M. MacDonald, and Patrick W. Manz. "The Organizational Determinants of Police Arrest Decisions.” Crime and Delinquency 52.2 (2006): 287-306. Web. This research examines the relationship between police characteristics and police styles. There is a prominent correspondence between arrest decisions and organizational structures. The study shows that behavior of an individual police officer is a function of the broader community. These agencies are classified into three types. These types are the watchman style, the legalistic style, and the service style. These styles are associated with the characteristics of individual officers and their arrest rates. According to the data, arrest rates and decisions are correlated with variations of organizational structures in law enforcement. Hanson, Philip G., and Walter E. O'Connell. "A Program in Community Relations: Face-to-Face Confrontations." American Psychological Association 33.1 (1969): 28-33. Web. Unfortunately there is a huge sense of distrust and uneasiness that the public generally has for the members of Law Enforcement. This is because they assume that police officers always take advantage of their power as an officer of the law. They think that cops just love to arrest people for the tiniest thing, even without proof. This program covers the confrontations of members of the general public and members of the Law Enforcement. The citizens express their fears of the popular stereotypes, and the police officers debunk them. This helps to lessen the gap between Law Enforcers and public citizens. Hoover, Larry T. "Police Educational Characteristics and Curricula." Michigan: Michigan State Univ., 1976. Web. This source is from a book about improving the quality of law enforcement by having higher education standards for police officers. There were three main points listed for the benefits of higher education standards. The first was the effectiveness of crime control would be improved, through greater motivation. The second was order maintenance functions would have more effective performances. Finally, the third was proper police exercise would be insured. The research showed that police education levels have actually increased over the years. This is because the curriculum is based not only on theory but also on a prescriptive approach. James, Jennifer Veronica. "Attitudes and Reality: The Impact of Perceptions of Police on Students' Victimization Reporting Behaviors." Proquest 39.88 (2011): 182-200. Web. This is a study on crimes that took place on college campuses and the influence of the students’ opinions of police on whether or not the victimizations were reported. One of the main crimes that were emphasized was sexual assault. In this study, the authors gathered a lot of data that helped determine what exactly impacts whether a victim makes a report to the police or not. The results showed that the decision is actually impacted by gender. Male victims are more wary of police officers, and do not like to discuss their victimizations, while female victims are more likely to have a higher satisfaction with police. The reports also vary depending on the original perceptions of the police by the victim. Novak, Kenneth J., and Mitchell B. Chamlin. "Racial Threat, Suspicion, and Police Behavior." Crime and Delinquency 58.2 (2012): 275-300. Web. Racial bias has been suspected in law enforcement, especially in traffic enforcement, for years now, but rarely has it ever been proved or disproved. The research that this journal is based off of shows that most of the reported racial bias happens in areas with a higher amount of black citizens. What is strange, though, is that the observations and reports happen mostly from white citizens. This is strange because the popular opinion is that colored people are the ones who are complaining the most about racial profiling. This also raises suspicion of the officers in question, because there is not as much of an incentive for the non-involved, white citizens to lie about whether an officer is being biased to a colored citizen or not. Pacanowsky, Michael, and James A. Anderson. "Cop Talk and Media Use." EBSCOhost 207.110 (1981): A team of six researchers go on ride-alongs and study the police culture. This includes their nicknames, way of talking, and gesture/codes. The researchers recorded all of the conversations that took place during the ride-alongs. These recordings were then released to the media, which made it easy for the public to see how police officers converse. Apparently police officers frequently use references to police shows and books. Many times, these references are used in negative situations. Sometimes they can be used in a positive light, but normally the police officers like to ridicule cop-related media. Rojek, Jeff, Geoffrey P. Alpert, and Hayden P. Smith. "Examining Officer and Citizen Accounts of Police Use-of-Force Incidents." 08 Sept. 2013. This journal reviews the study of police-citizen contacts, meaning the resistance of the citizen vs. the force used by the police officer. This is investigated through interviews with citizens who were accused of resisting, and officers who were accused of using force. The authors are trying to better understand the interactions between police and citizens. Their goal was to examine the processes within the deference-resistance continuum. According to the data the authors provide, both the officers and the citizens focus on different topics and justify their behavior based on their self-given roles. Schaefer, Zachary A. "An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie." 09 Sept. 2013. The main points in this article are based on police brutality and unauthorized videotaping of police officers. Now that almost everyone has a camera handy on their mobile devices, hundreds of videos have been uploaded depicting police officers beating or abusing seemingly innocent citizens. This has caused a riot, both with the public and within the law enforcement community. Several states have actually passed laws making it a felony to videotape an officer of the law without authorization. Also, the police force has become much more strict about when it is appropriate to use force with a member of the general public. Warren, Patricia Y. "Perceptions of Police Disrespect During Vehicle Stops: A Race-Based Analysis." 09 Sept. 2013. This study shows that there is actually a significant difference between the views of blacks and whites when it comes to police officers. Black citizens tend to have a more negative opinion of police officers compared to whites. One of the main reasons blacks are so dissatisfied with the police force is because of the popular opinion that police officers tend to use racial bias. The research included data from a survey, which proved that the more trust that is built up in social institutions, the more dissatisfaction there is with officers of the law. These citizens view the police as highly disrespectful. Zhao, Jihong, Ling Ren, and Nicholas P. Lovrich. "Political Culture Versus Socioeconomic Approaches to Predicting Police Strength in U.S. Police Agencies." 08 Sept. 2013. There are two main perspectives when considering the effect of local political structure on police strength. One theory is from the political institutional perspective and others are from sociological perspective. This study assesses these two main competing approaches, and explain variation in police employment everywhere. There are several sets of data included in this scholarly journal, including tables and notes. Some of these sets of data show that the political culture approach fails to contribute to the variation of police strength. The political culture approach focuses on local government structures. The study eventually proves that the other approach, the socioeconomic approach, is much better at predicting police force levels across all of the US. Research Paper Kiera Ewings Mr. Tovar Senior Exit Project 27 November 2013 Police Officers Need Protection Too People like to put the blame on others when it comes to getting in trouble. Some people who receive a ticket or get sent to jail like to blame the cops. They come up with excuses to make it so they are not at fault and to make the police officer seem like the bad guy. These accusations may make the person feel as if he or she is not to blame, but they can also cause several problems for the accused officers. Police officers need more effective and extensive laws to protect them from false accusations made by the general public, such as accusations of police brutality and racial profiling. These laws can help to dissolve the distrust that a large amount of citizens have towards cops, and can help innocent officers keep their jobs and continue to protect the public. Police officers are not able to effectively do their jobs in fear of being accused of racial profiling and/or police brutality. Police officers all over the country have been interviewed about what an average day is like in the police workforce. One of the main issues that is most frequently discussed during these interviews is gangs, and how police personnel deals with them. Although race can play a substantial part when it comes to gang affiliation, it seems to almost never be mentioned during these interviews. In fact, the police officers tend to avoid the subject completely. Gladys Symons, a Canadian author who has interviewed several police officers both in Canada and in the U.S., noted the tension that arose once race was brought up: “Afraid of reprimands and accusations of racism and harassment (particularly of visible minority youth), the police became hesitant to deal with these youth, or with the ethnic community in general” (Symons 1). If the ethnicity of a criminal is brought into play, the police officer in question is now in a position where he/she could be sued solely because of false accusations regarding race. With better laws in place, police officers could effectively do their jobs and would not have to worry about being accused of racial profiling. An example would be a law that prohibits both police officers and citizens to mention race during a confrontation. As Symons mentioned, police officers do not feel comfortable discussing racial issues even in interviews. They realize that any mention of it could easily be turned against them. Taking this into account, with this law in place the issue of race would not need to be brought up at all, therefore ensuring police officers protection against accusations. The unlawful actions of a few police officers do not represent all the officers of law enforcement. The majority of police officers do not abuse their powers, yet they are being blamed for the few that do. Kristin Roman, a police lieutenant in Wisconsin, has many neighbors who distrust her simply because of the news stories they read about police misconduct. Roman, and thousands of police officers just like her, are constantly being judged for what a handful of cops have done throughout the years. One of Roman’s elderly neighbors read a story about two police officers who had committed various acts of crime on several accounts, and confronted Roman about this story, accusing her of behaving similarly. This is growing tiresome for these officers who are trying to do their jobs and keep their citizens safe. It is very difficult for police officers to do their jobs effectively when the people they are trying to protect do not even trust them. As Kristin puts it: “I am not ‘the police.’ I am an individual, proud to work in law enforcement and certain that I practice my profession responsibly, honestly, passionately and always with a keen awareness of the trust that has been placed in me by those in my community and by those with whom I serve” (Roman 1). She believes that while some officers do make mistakes, that does not mean all police officers should be held accountable. It is unfortunate that the only police incidents people normally hear about are ones where the police are abusing their power. However, that is a small minority of the overall police work force, and should not be seen as an example of all men and women involved in law enforcement. Blaming the entire police force as a whole for the actions of one officer is the equivalent to assuming everyone with a mustache is a mass murderer because Adolf Hitler had a mustache. The media has always gone out of its way to attack the police workforce, starting way back when people got their information from newspapers, until now when almost everyone has access to a computer and a TV. One of the ways that media attacks the police workforce is by using footage of police officers taken by random citizens, without the knowledge of the officers. Video and audio footage can be taken out of context and used to the advantage of a supposed victim of police brutality. A strong example of video footage being taken out of context is the Rodney King trial in 1991. A 68-second video was shot of several police officers beating a black man named Rodney King, which was shown to the entire country. People were in shock by how violent these officers were towards a supposedly innocent man. Of course, since he was black, this added to the scandal, because the police officers were now seen as racist as well as unnecessarily violent. The witness who shot the footage started filming right when the beating began to take place. He got no footage of what happened before, which was King making several violent movements towards the police officers in question. Lou Cannon, an American journalist who actually went and interviewed not only the police officers in question, but several members of the jury who were involved with the case, attempts to explain what really happened: “The overriding myth is that the officers made no attempt to take King into custody peacefully and beat him with their heavy batons for no reason except that they were white and King was black. But there is no evidence in the audiotape that the officers used any racial slur, and prosecutors acknowledged in two criminal trials that the officers made a considerable attempt-lasting more than eight minutes-to take King into custody without striking a blow” (Cannon 22). However, because of the way the video was shot, and the jury’s fear that people might riot, the police officers were arrested and Rodney King actually received compensation of $3.8 million. A law needs to be passed that prohibits the public from secretly recording/taking pictures of police officers and/or posting them on social media websites without permission from any and all police officers involved in order to prevent situations similar to the Rodney King trial, and to protect officers who are only trying to do their jobs. Because of this law, citizens would be less inclined to record and post videos of officers, and so officers would not be as frequently targeted in a negative way through media. Because of the fact that the modern American society is extremely interested in the media, especially when it comes to ethical violations, police officers need to have more efficient education and training pertaining to ethics and what they can and cannot do. This can help them to avoid being sued or charged for racial profiling and possibly even racial brutality. With strict rules set in place and a better understanding of what is considered “too far” when it comes to ethical situations, police could be spared from the racist accusations that occur far too frequently. Steven R. Eastvedt, a 26-year veteran corrections deputy, has talked to high-ranking administrators in both law enforcement and corrections about the importance of ethics education and training in the criminal justice field. While both say that this education should be a necessity, the administrators hardly ever go through with the actual development of such training. Steven gives his own opinion on the matter and says, “A simple fact which cannot be ignored is that, in this day and age, there is a much greater social focus on ethics and media attention on ethical violations in virtually every occupation” (Eastvedt 62). Other occupations have specific training in order to ensure that the employees can overcome any obstacles, so police officers should have the same. During training, all officers of law enforcement should be required to take a course in ethical education and training in order to prevent situations where racial profiling is questioned. This way, when the media decides to attack police officers with accusations pertaining to ethical violations, the officers know how to handle those situations. It is extremely important for police officers to be educated about what they can and cannot do when it comes to pulling over and/or arresting a citizen. Some police forces, such as members of the Edmonton Police Service, are already being required to start taking courses and training dealing with situations that involve racial profiling and bias. The fact that this is going into effect in certain states means that people are starting to realize just how important the issue is. This training will not only pertain to race, but also to gender, age, sexual orientation, etc. A news story was done about this turn of events in the police workforce, and newscaster Dwight Smith entailed what will be happening: “Starting in September each and every officer will be required to take a three hour course on ‘bias free policing’” (Smith 1). Instead of each state having the option to educate their police forces on how to be “bias-free,” all states should be required to give out these courses. If all states had that requirement, all police personnel would know what to do in an ethical situation, and would be able to prevent threatening accusations from occurring. Similar training courses have been introduced to other countries as well, such as Australia. Ken Lay, the Chief Commissioner in Victoria, Australia, does not want to believe that there is any racial bias, or any bias at all for that matter, in the Victoria Police Department. However, due to the many rumors and accusations made by the Victoria community, he has decided to address the problem: “Our recruit and probationary constable training involves providing awareness and understanding of policing in a diverse community, including youth, multicultural, indigenous, gay, lesbian and transsexual, and human rights” (Lay 9). Although not many police forces have courses specifically targeted to racial bias, all of them teach about the diversity in their public communities. Police officers need to be aware of the different stereotypes, races, and groups of people who could possibly be offended and/or sue for police profiling. That is why, when they go through police training, they should learn how to treat these people and how to act when a sensitive topic is brought up. This way they do not get into difficult situations and do not have to go to court because of an accusation from an offended citizen. The popular idea that all police officers purposely choose to pull over black and Hispanic drivers more often than white drivers is, in fact, a myth. Heather Mac Donald, a writer for the newspaper National Review, wrote a review about an article in the New York Times. The original article was about how racial profiling, especially in traffic stops, is getting extremely out of hand. The newspaper went so far as to accuse the Justice Department of withholding evidence that showed police bias. Mac Donald decided to go out and do her own investigating, and discovered that the New York Times is the one suppressing evidence. In her review, Mac Donald states: “According to a survey of 80,000 civilians conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2002, an identical proportion of white, black, and Hispanic drivers—9 percent—were stopped by the police in the previous year” (Mac Donald 43). Not only that, but during the day, when it is easier to tell the skin color of the driver, the numbers for black drivers pulled over were lower than at night. This data proves that there is little to no racial bias when it comes to traffic stops, and therefore newspapers such as the New York Times need to stop administering false information. Even during the day, it is very uncommon for an officer to know what the driver looks like before he or she approaches the vehicle in a traffic stop. Traffic stops occur when either a driver is speeding, there is something wrong with the vehicle (such as brake lights not working), or if the driver’s license plate number shows up in the police record. The police officer is almost always behind the vehicle while making these observations. It would be extremely obvious if a person were being pulled over for his or her race, because the officer would have to drive past the vehicle, look into the window, and then decide to pull the driver over. What people do not realize is that without police officers, this society would not be able to function properly. To many people, the police are deemed as the people who come and ruin everybody’s fun, who abuse their power, and hate anyone who is not white. This is not at all true. Their jobs are to protect the citizens and to uphold the laws of society, and many police officers really do care about the people they are trying to protect, even the criminals they have to arrest. 61 year-old Steve Franklin recently retired from his position as Chief of the Erie Bureau Police, and he reflects on his many years working with a variety of people, and how he and his co-workers always tried their best to turn around the life of a criminal: “You know they took the wrong path for one reason or another and you think they can be rescued and you try to work with them” (Tim 1). Of course, this cannot be said for all police officers, but whether or not an officer has compassion for the people he/she arrests, it is still required that he or she treats the criminal with respect, and the officers do so without question. Although it is wrong for people to make assumptions about all police officers based on one experience, it also not right for the officers to perpetuate these stereotypes and encourage the negative rumors and opinions. “Image is everything,” says Gary Dias, a cop in Honolulu, “...Members of the public who are victims of crime or subjects of traffic control or who are simply lost and asking directions also interact with the police and form opinions of them” (Dias 100). Even if an officer absolutely hates the person he or she is communicating with, that officer must keep a professional stance and treat the citizen the same way he or she would treat any other citizen. The way an officer treats someone affects that person’s perspective on law enforcement as a whole. As Dias said, image is everything, and no matter how friendly an officer may be, all the citizens know about him or her is how that officer acts during an interaction. However, sometimes there is no avoiding a negative experience if the person being pulled over is difficult and resistant. This does not mean, though, that the police officer should not still try to communicate with the public in a manner of, perhaps not friendliness but courteousness. Police officers need to be taught in their training that the way they treat people, from simple situations such as traffic stops to more intense situations like a robbery, can affect the outlook that the public has on them. They also need to be aware that this public outlook can affect the fragile trust between police officers and citizens. Training courses need to include this knowledge, in order to make more of an impression on the police officers and to protect the respectable image of law enforcement. While an officer should always show respect towards a citizen, the citizen in question should treat the officer likewise. When it comes to the way a citizen should treat an officer, showing respect and compliance will take a person much further than showing hostility. If a citizen willingly complies to what the officer is asking, without arguing, there will be no need for force from the officer. “The adage ‘it pays to be nice’ might take you a long way. Sometimes officers might give you a break if you’re polite and non-confrontational” (“What To Do When You’re Stopped By Police” 48). “Police brutality” normally occurs after a citizen refuses arrest and uses force against the officer(s). If a police officer has a good reason to believe his life is in danger, he has the right to defend himself in any way he can. If, instead of fighting, the citizen in question simply cooperates, no force or “brutality” will be needed, and the charges might even be less severe. People do not realize the effect that common courtesy can have. If citizens stopped resisting and started cooperating with police officers, there would be no need for any extensive laws, and the stereotype that police officers frequently commit “police brutality” would be diminished. There is already a law in place where “refusing arrest” and/or “assaulting an officer” can be punishable by law. However, this law needs to be better enforced in order to protect officers, as there are still cases where charges are dropped merely because the officer is accused of police brutality. In this day and age, police officers are sorely taken for granted. In fact, some people wish there were no police officers at all. They have not come to the realization that, without law enforcement, everyday life would be complete chaos. With these brave officers risking their lives every day in order to protect their citizens, it is only right that the country returns the favor by setting laws to protect them as well. With police officers constantly being harassed and accused of racial profiling, police brutality, and other forms of bias, there need to be new and improved laws that help to protect these officers and allow them to effectively do their jobs in society. Works cited Cannon, Lou. “Rodney King Remembered” National Review 64.13 (2012) 22-25 Web. 13 Sept. 2013. Dias, Gary A. Honolulu Cop Ebscohost, 2002. Web. 1 Nov. 2013. Eastvedt, Steven R. “Criminal Justice Ethics: A View From The Top” American Jails 22.5 (2008): 61-66 Web. 14 Sept. 2013. Hahn, Tim. “Outgoing Erie Police Chief Reflects on Career” Erie Times-News (PA) (2013): Web. 27 Oct. 2013. Lay, Ken. “Police committed to focusing on crime, not race” Age, The (Melbourne) (2013): 9 Web. 18 Sept. 2013. Labov, Steven L. “Crime, The Disease…” Police Crime Prevention 9.15 (2003): 8 Web. 28 Oct. 2013. Mac Donald, Heather. “Reporting While Wrong” National Review 57.17 (2005): 43-44 Web. 28 Oct. 2013. Roman, Kristen. “The Officer’s Pledge: To Serve and Defect?” Harman Newsweek LLC 148.19 (2006): Web. 11 Sept. 2013. Smith, Dwight. “Members of the Edmonton Police Service are getting new training…” CBC Radio (2005): Web. 18 Sept. 2013. Symons, Gladys L. “Racialization of the Street Gang Issue in Montreal: A Police Perspective” Canadian Ethnic Studies 31.1 (1999): Web. 17 Sept. 2013. “What To Do When You’re Stopped By Police” Law and Justice 108.24 (2005): 48-50 Web. 17 Sept. 2013